Champagne Chaos

TimeToChange

snowscreamer wrote: »

Hi CC,

Good luck on your journey. Sounds like you started well and hopefully your mistake, although unfortunate, will help you knuckle down even more and get out of bad habits which will eventually lead to an earlier debt free day

Have you tried YNAB yet? I am a YNAB fanatic/addict, but it's really got our spending down from previously unsustainable levels to having a £500+ surplus at the end of each month without really feeling like we're cutting back. We're just much more aware of where all our money currently is, what expenses are approaching that we need to put money aside for, and conscious of our everyday spending. So all that's really been cut is waste; and it is not missed!!

Looking forward to the end of this month as the previous three were spent getting out of our overdrafts (achievement 1, ticked!) and building up a bit of a buffer in our bank accounts so we don't dip back into them - now this month we make the first overpayments to our credit cards. I can't wait to start seeing their balances coming down.

Snowscreamer xx

Ohhhhhh congratulations - i can't wait until i make my first mini goal! I am downloading the YNAB app as i type so fingers crossed it helps

CC xx

TimeToChange

Hummingbird - thanks for the support, i love cooking but have never actually done much and i really enjoyed making the soup and sorting everything for tonight. It's quite out of character for me and i'm liking it!! no more - ahhhhh we'll just eat out! You should pop round for the girls night, all we ask is for scandalous gossip and giggling!!

I think i might try phoning the credit card company, like you siad it's worth an ask - if not i have some serious money to make and no real idea how!!!

As for the ex - pah, i hate seeing his photo's but as we have so many mutual 'friends' (some of them havent been much like friends) i keep seeing them - mighttake a social media break!

Right i'm off for my work lunch - i hope to find out who my flowers are from
Gossip to follow!!!!!

CC xx

hummingbird

^ Thanks for recommending YNAB - never heard of it, just clicked on the link, and it looks exciting! Glad to hear it helped you so much snowscreamer!

twiggy86

I would definitely call your credit card company - the worse they can do is say no.

You've made a great start and I wouldn't let that one little hiccup spoil it! Oh and your menu sounds lovely - space for one more? You did say you could feed the 5000?!

monz

Hey

I went through a messy breakup in September and left with his debt. What helps me is my own made spreadsheet. It is like a god send x

hummingbird

monz wrote: »

Hey

I went through a messy breakup in September and left with his debt. What helps me is my own made spreadsheet. It is like a god send x

Hi monz, I've just started using my own homemade spreadsheet too and I agree with you - it's fab! Wish i'd done it before!

koselur

Hi CC!

I always use the following to pick wine (tips gained from a friend who's into winetasting - I don't know anything about the stuff myself... except that I like drinking it!). First tip - NEVER pay full price on supermarket/branded (e.g. Jacob's Creek) wine - apparently it is a rip-off. Always look for half price or e.g. 2 for £10. You can usually get a nice bottle for £5 or £6. Second tip - apparently the deeper the dimple in the bottom of the bottle the nice the wine is (think the logic behind this is that the bottles with dimples cost more to make so they tend to put nicer wine in it). Third tip - if the label is spread over more than one sticker (i.e. not one sticker all the way round like on pop) then that's a good sign. Fourth tip - you can get AMAZING wine in Lidl and Aldi for really good prices. A £5 bottle from Aldi is like a £10 bottle from the supermarket. And since it isn't branded nobody need know!

As for your ex I ended up leaving facebook entirely for nearly a year because I couldn't face seeing my ex on there (especially with his new gf). Then when I went back on I just blocked him and hey presto - even if our mutual friends tag him etc it doesn't come up on my feed - might be worth it for you!

You don't need to bring yourself down by looking at his BS. Skiing is fun but there is more to life - like your gang of supportive gal pals

Have a good Friday night!

TimeToChange

So the girls night in was a rip roaring success, everyone had an amazing time, none of us missed being out in town and every single one of the girlys at some point said it was helping them out money wise too. Amazing how many secret debts people have, i seriously thought it was just me! Don'y get me wrong i havent explained my circumstances or anything, just said that with the breakup i needed a bit of time to sort my life out.

Today i have been having a bit of a declutter - i have listed a load of stuff with zi##it and should have £61.07 coming from them, got rid of two old netbooks for £71.93 (hopefully and sold my old mobile for £30, all these payments are pending the various companies accepting the good so i'm not banking on anything yet however, i did get £50 for a dress on ebay (someone bought it now!!) yey! so i have my first £50 towards the March Mistake Fund! If i get all of the above payments too i'll be up to £213 only £127 more to find. i have a few more bits on flea bay but apart from that i don't know.

I was a bit down in the dumps earlier whilst decluttering, it just brought back too many memories. I am so determined to stay positive and not let that jerk have any control over my feelings any more - i wish i wasn't in this financial mess as what i really need is a good holiday! I took the pup out for a walk in the sunshine instead and it really cheered me up. I can't help but feel so stupid sometimes for letting myself get into this mess, and for not being able to see a way out. i know i can do it - i'm j ust having a down day.

I've made some real progress on getting rid of DVD's and books. i have to start being brutal now though or things will never change, i just seem to have so much stuff. but none of i t is really anything if that makes sense, just boxes of !!!! everywhere. i'm going to set myself the challenge to ebay 5 items every weekend this month. hopefully they sell, every penny helps. I want to get the spare room fit to have a lodger in by summer, that would be a huge help! Ideally i'd like something short term first just to see if i can cope with having a stranger living with me - but the extra cash would be amazing.

Had leftovers for everymeal today, and got a nice piece of salmon out of the freezer for tomorroe - it's one of my fave's so i'm looking forward to that,

I've spent the grand total of £0.60 today on a bag of flour to make a cake for next weeks lunches, i've had the heating off all day - in fact it's still off, done a load of washing which dried in the sun nicely, i cleaned the carpet in the front room and found £2 under the sofa (straight into the emergency fund) and have started making a shopping list of things i have run out of which i can wait until the next supermarket shop to buy (lemon juice and the such like) i have discovered we have a market in the local town on fridays so i am going to start popping down there in my lunch break for fresh produce as its all locally sourced from farms round here and is lots cheaper - it will force me to cook seasonally but hey, thats no bad thing.

so trying to be positive but feeling a bit low......maybe i just need an early night?

Hope for a good day tomorrow to cheer me up

CC xx

hummingbird

Hi hun! You know you've done your friends an amazing favour (as well as yourself of course) by calling a halt to those £70 cocktail evenings....just getting my calculator....£3640 a year !!!!

So glad you had a great evening last night and you will be hosted now for the next few weeks.

I'm the same as you with the books and DVDs..... just wondering, do you like Sophie Kinsella novels? They are so frothy and lighthearted, make me laugh so much, and yet are poignant and pack a punch at the same time. If you haven't read it, have a go at "Twenties Girl", I think you'd love it right now! (Not to mention the Shopaholic series, LOL!!!!)

Well done on all the things you've accomplished today! You're doing great! xx

TimeToChange

OMG Hummingbird - over three and a half grand a year! Thank you so much for putting that into perspective for me!! I must say i am looking forward to it not being my turn to host for a while - it'll be lovely not having to worry about what to eat on Friday nights!

As for the books, i haven't tried them no - how ever on my DFW list for next week is walking into the village to join the library and i shall make twenties girl my first borrow. I used to spend a fortune buying books, and i love to read, so the library should work out well - it's only a small one but they order things in for you and hire out DVD's and music too. I haven't seen whet the selection is like yet but it has to be worth a look?

I REALLY need to clean my kitchen today - that is kinda my big aim for the day, also i have some bits in the fridge that need using up so as not to go to waste so i'll be baking a cake for my lunch boxes next week (Does anyone know how long it might keep in a air tight tim??) and making a meal plan based on what i already have bought (good recipes for aubergines anyone?) that will mean the fridge can get a clean out and i can start ordering it properly so i can stop wasting food. I watched a program the other day about the amount of food we throw away a year and it was scary, i'm determined to cut down my food budget MASSIVELY as it will make good in roads into my debts and less waste is a good place to start. I'm hoping to get some good cook books from the library too - as my printer is also a photocopier i can nick the recipes i like and store them in my own folder :D

Also going to take pup out for a lovely long walk again in the sun today, it's good thinking time and helps stop me getting 'cabin fever' from being in the flat all day - thats when i start shopping!

I'd like to list some more bits on ebay this evening - if everything goes to plan i might be nearly there on the MSM fund!!!

Happy Sunday guys xx

CC xx